Your Custom Coffee Bag Deserves Great Artwork: Brief a Graphic Designer the Right Way

Why the Brief You Write Is More Important Than the Designer You Hire

A great designer working from a poor brief will still produce work that misses the mark. An average designer working from a thorough brief has a much better shot at nailing it on the first try. Think of the brief as a map. The more accurate and detailed it is, the more likely your designer arrives exactly where you want them to go. When you skip details or assume your designer will figure things out on their own, you are taking on risk that does not need to exist. There is also a cost factor. Most designers charge for revisions beyond a set number of rounds. Every round that happens because information was missing from the brief is a round that you are paying for unnecessarily. Starting with a complete brief protects your budget, your timeline, and the creative relationship with your designer.

What to Include in Your Designer Brief: Section by Section

Your Brand Story and Voice

Before any design work starts, your designer needs to understand who your brand is. This goes deeper than aesthetics. It includes the story behind your roast, the people you are trying to reach, and the values that shape your business.

• Write a short paragraph about where your brand came from and why it exists
• Describe your ideal customer in specific terms - their age, lifestyle, values, and how they shop for coffee
• List three to five adjectives that describe how you want someone to feel when they see your bag
• Share any existing brand guidelines, logo files, or fonts you are already using
• Be clear about what you want to avoid - styles, color combinations, or overall vibes that do not fit your brand

The Coffee Itself

The product inside the bag should shape the design on the outside. A skilled designer can pull real inspiration from the origin of the beans, the roast level, the flavor notes, or the way the coffee was processed. Give them something concrete to work with.

• Origin or region of the coffee (single origin or blend)
• Roast level - light, medium, or dark
• Flavor notes you want to highlight on the bag
• Processing method if it is relevant to your brand story (washed, natural, honey)
• Any certifications that need to appear on the bag (organic, fair trade, Rainforest Alliance)

Bag Format and Panel Breakdown

This is where many brand owners get tripped up. A coffee bag is not a flat canvas. It has a front panel, a back panel, side gussets, and a bottom. Each panel serves a different purpose and offers a different amount of usable space. Your designer needs to know the exact bag format before laying anything out.

• Bag style: flat bottom, stand-up pouch, side gusset, quad seal, or pillow pouch
• Bag size: 4oz, 8oz, 12oz, 2lb, 5lb - each one has different panel dimensions
• Whether the bag includes a valve, zipper, tear notch, or hang hole, since these all affect the layout
• Which panel is the primary design focus (almost always the front)
• What required information must appear on the back panel, such as labeling, directions, or certifications

Always ask your packaging printer for the official die line or panel template file before briefing your designer. This file shows the exact dimensions, fold lines, and bleed areas for your specific bag style and size. Designing without it is like building a house without blueprints.

Technical Specs Every Brief Needs to Cover

This section is where most brand owner briefs fall apart completely. Technical packaging specs are not the most exciting topic, but skipping them causes real problems during production.

Bleed Lines and Safe Zones

• Bleed is the area of artwork that extends beyond the cut line of the bag. It is usually 1/8 inch (3mm) on all sides. This extra space ensures that if the bag shifts slightly during cutting, there is no white edge showing.
• The safe zone is the area inside the cut line where all important text and design elements must stay - usually 1/8 inch inside the cut line. Anything placed outside the safe zone risks being cut off.
• Your designer must set up the file with these measurements built in from the start. Fixing them at the end is much harder and sometimes requires rebuilding the file.

Color Mode

• All print files must be set to CMYK color mode, not RGB. RGB is used for screens and will cause colors to shift when printed.
• If your brand uses specific Pantone colors, include those codes in the brief. Pantone colors allow for more consistent color matching across print runs.
• If you do not have Pantone codes, describe your brand colors in as much detail as possible and ask your printer whether they can provide color targets.

Resolution

• All artwork must be at 300 DPI (dots per inch) at final print size. Anything lower will look blurry or pixelated when printed.
• If your designer is working with photos or texture elements, make sure those source files meet the resolution requirement before they are placed into the layout.

File Format

• Final files are almost always required in PDF format with bleed included and all fonts outlined or embedded
• Some printers also accept AI (Adobe Illustrator) or EPS files
• Ask your printer directly what file format they require and include that requirement in your brief so the designer knows from day one

Fonts

• All fonts in the final file must be outlined or embedded. This means the font is converted to a shape so the printer does not need to have the same font installed on their system.
• If the designer sends you a file with live text and your printer does not have that font, the text will be replaced with a default font and your layout will be broken.

The Free Designer Brief Checklist

Print this out or copy it into your project notes before your next designer conversation. *Brand Foundation

• [ ] One paragraph brand story written out
• [ ] Ideal customer described in detail
• [ ] Three to five brand personality adjectives listed
• [ ] Existing logo files attached (preferably vector format)
• [ ] Existing brand colors noted with hex or Pantone codes
• [ ] Any fonts currently in use identified
• [ ] List of styles or looks to avoid

Product Information

• [ ] Coffee origin or blend description
• [ ] Roast level noted
• [ ] Flavor notes listed
• [ ] Processing method noted if relevant
• [ ] Certifications to display identified

Bag Specs

• [ ] Bag style confirmed (flat bottom, stand-up, etc.)
• [ ] Bag size confirmed
• [ ] Die line or panel template file attached
• [ ] Valve, zipper, or other features noted
• [ ] Primary panel identified
• [ ] Back panel content listed

Technical Requirements

• [ ] Bleed amount confirmed with printer (typically 1/8 inch)
• [ ] Safe zone requirement noted
• [ ] Color mode set to CMYK
• [ ] Pantone color codes provided if applicable
• [ ] Resolution requirement noted (300 DPI minimum)
• [ ] Final file format required by printer confirmed
• [ ] Font outlining or embedding required confirmed

Project Logistics*

• [ ] Number of revision rounds included in designer's fee
• [ ] First draft deadline agreed upon
• [ ] Final file delivery deadline agreed upon
• [ ] Who approves the final artwork before it goes to print

Common Mistakes That Delay Your Packaging Project

Even with a solid brief, there are a handful of mistakes that show up again and again in coffee bag design projects. Knowing about them now saves you a lot of frustration later.

• Sending a logo file that is too low in resolution. Your designer needs a vector file (AI, EPS, or SVG) or a high-resolution PNG with a transparent background. A logo pulled from a website is almost never print-ready.
• Approving artwork on a screen without considering how colors look in print. Always ask for a physical proof before approving a full production run.
• Forgetting required label information until the artwork is nearly finished. Required elements like weight, barcode, allergen statements, and country of origin need to be accounted for in the layout from the start.
• Not confirming the die line with the printer first. Bag dimensions vary by supplier. A template from one printer will not match the specs of another.
• Skipping the panel template and asking the designer to "just eyeball it." This almost always results in artwork that does not fit correctly when the bag is formed.

How to Work With Your Designer Through the Process

A good brief gets the project started well. Staying engaged through the process keeps it on track.

• Ask for a low-resolution preview of the layout before the designer spends time on fine details. This is often called a rough comp or a first pass. It lets you course-correct early without wasting billable hours.
• Give feedback in specific, clear language. Instead of saying "it does not feel right," try "the font feels too formal for our brand" or "can the primary color be warmer." Specific feedback leads to faster, more accurate revisions.
• Keep all communication in writing. Email or a shared project tool works better than a phone call with no follow-up summary. Written communication creates a clear record of what was agreed upon.
• Do not ask for revisions one at a time. Batch all your notes from a single round into one list and send them together. This keeps the revision count down and the project moving forward.

What File to Hand Off to Your Printer

Once your designer delivers the final artwork, there are a few things to confirm before you send it to your packaging printer.

• Confirm the file is in the required format (usually print-ready PDF)
• Confirm bleed is included and set to the correct amount
• Confirm all fonts are outlined
• Confirm the file is in CMYK color mode
• Confirm the file resolution is 300 DPI
• Ask your designer to include a low-resolution proof image for visual reference

If your printer reviews the file and comes back with a preflight report showing errors, share that report directly with your designer so they can make the corrections. Do not try to edit a print-ready file yourself unless you have experience with professional design software.

Your Bag Is a Billboard: Make Sure It Says the Right Thing

Every time someone picks up your coffee bag at a farmers market, a grocery shelf, or a local cafe, they are making a judgment about your brand in a matter of seconds. The artwork on that bag either earns their attention or loses it. A clear, detailed designer brief is the thing that gives your bag the best possible shot at standing out. It is not glamorous work - it is a checklist and a few paragraphs and some file specs. But it is the foundation that every good packaging project is built on. If you are ready to start your custom coffee bag project, Savor Brands works with brand owners at every stage of the process - from picking the right bag style to reviewing print-ready files. You do not have to figure all of this out alone.

You Asked for a Great Coffee Bag - This Is How You Get One

Getting the artwork right on your custom coffee bag is not about finding a more talented designer. It is about giving the designer you hire everything they need to do their best work. A complete brief with clear brand direction, accurate bag specs, proper technical requirements, and a checklist to keep everyone on the same page is what makes the difference between packaging you love and packaging you settle for. Take the checklist above into your next project. Share it with your designer before the first file is ever opened. Ask your printer for the die line before anyone starts designing. And remember - the more clearly you communicate your vision upfront, the less time and money you spend trying to correct it later. Your coffee is worth packaging that reflects it. Start the project right.